What Will the Branch of the Future Look Like?

Virginia-based StellarOne Bank is on a mission to build a forward-looking branch network.

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Recently, Bank Systems & Technology profiled Virginia-based StellarOne Bank its efforts toward creating the branch of the future by pursuing efficiency, convenience and sleekness. Here, we'll take a look inside at some of the work the bank has done. (All photos courtesy of Larry Patton, director of facilities, StellarOne Bank)

1. Customer Comes First

The new branches feature a wall that has a tube system similar to what customers see in the drive-through part of bank branches currently. Customers can conduct basic transactions through the tubes, which are fed to a back office and retrieved and processed by employees situated there.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio

There are quite a few varieties of the branch of the future, but most look similar. They are all smaller, have more of the "cool" technology in them, and all say that the "teller" of the future will do more.-á But I have not seen (maybe I missed it) where the bank is looking at what customers really want, and why.-á It seems as if banks are all wanting to build the "apple store." But, unless their employees are as well trained as the apple store employees are, and have policies to please the customer, they will fail.